Best Friends
by KayKoala
Summary: An AU Monchele story. Cory and Lea have been best friends since childhood. But unexpected twists and turns are about to rock their friendship...
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: For those of you who were reading this before it got deleted, so sorry it got taken off the site! I am posting it on my tumblr as well just in case, so feel free to check here if the story ever goes down:  
Thanks for your encouragement! Keep those reviews comin! :)**

The exact year that they had decided to become best friends was debatable. Lea always argued that it was earlier than Cory. Cory denied liking her at all until his high school years ("intoxication does things to a man" he liked to say) but they had finally come to the agreement that it was somewhere around when Lea was 7 and he was 12. It was somewhere around there. Amidst putting on family talent shows and playing hide-and-go-seek the polar opposites had looked forward to trips back and forth to see the other. And when a messy divorce on the Monteith side occurred, Ann brought her two sons to the Big Apple to start fresh. After that they became inseparable.

No one really understood the nature of their relationship. Cory was four and a half years Lea's elder and light years different in almost every aspect of personality. The tiny dark-haired firecracker stole the Broadway stage from a young and tender age while the tall, lanky teen smoked weed. And when they were apart they were two different people. But together they fit like a puzzle.

They were present in every milestone. He took her to Vegas to see Celine Dion for her 21st birthday; holding back her hair as she puked into the dingy club bathroom and then recommending her a whole new set of drinks the next evening. He had physically kicked the crap out of at least three of her boyfriends. He liked to pride himself in that because she had a tendency to date douchebags. Cory liked to keep an eye out for her.

She had helped him search for jobs after he got himself together and would grab some coffee and spend late hours searching for new applications and auditions after he fell asleep discouraged. She got him into acting and music; the one thing they truly had in common.

And at present they were living together. It was a large lofty apartment that Lea Michele had purchased and he paid her well to reside with her. They were roommates, nothing more. She was gone at night for shows and he was gone during the day for band rehearsal. To them, being together at 26 and 30 was only natural. Until someone better came along of course. But for now they were both devoted to work. Lea's serious relationship had been kicked to the curb seven months ago and Cory liked the occasional midnight fling. But they were workaholics and they had each other's company (along with a cat) and decided that it worked until they both found success in the love department.


	2. Chapter 2

"Nononono Jenny can't go home this week, Jeremy was meant for her! Oh my god…" Lea scratched the content kitty's ears and shook her head disapprovingly at the television screen. "The Bachelor ruins my life. I was rooting for her."

Cory glanced down at the bowl in his lap as the petite woman beside him thrust a hand in for a scoop of popcorn. "Oh yeah, I'm depressed." He nodded, earning him a glare from Lea.

"Don't make fun of me. I get into this."

"I know. What a Saturday night. Crying over The Bachelor with Lea Michele."

"Hey, I said we should go out one of these weekends but we never do. I seriously think we deserve a night out. When do we ever go out anymore?"

"Never." Cory answered simply, stuffing a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

"We're workaholics."

"True."

"We're boring old farts and workaholics."

"Then let's go out! I go out with the guys sometimes, you're the one that stays in to cry over Jessie or whatever her name is."

"Jenny."

"It's only 7:30 we can still go out if you want." Cory shook her knee playfully. "Come on. It'll take you five hours to get ready so scoot the boot."

"Don't steal my phrase." Lea pointed warningly, giving her friend a big grin. "Scoot your own boot. Fine let's go."

* * *

Lea brushed her bangs neatly into place and puckered into the mirror. "So do you think you'll bring any lovely ladies home?"

"Maybe." Cory shrugged casually, straightening his jacket in front of the full-body mirror. "What about you? Will Lea Michele get some dick?"

The Italian woman emitted a devious grin and glanced at Cory through the reflection. "We'll seeeeeee! You know I'm not a big one-night-stand girl."

"Yeah but it's been seven months since Theo. You gotta get back out there sometime. You can't tell me you're not horny."

"Oh my god, you're of control. Unlike me. I don't need that." She laughed, turning back to the Canadian. "And by the way, you're so not going to attract women with those pants. Where did you even purchase those pants?"

"I-"

"No." She marched over to his bedroom, rummaging through his drawers to pull out a pair of washed denim jeans. "Wear these. They make your butt look amazing."

"Yeah? Ooof, alright." Cory smiled, quickly changing from his beige khakis. The Broadway starlet smoothed her little black dress over her hips and beamed at her roommate. "How do I look?"

Cory protruded his bottom lip with a casual nod. "You look fuckable."

"Good." She nodded proudly, turning back to the mirror to apply lipstick. "Not that that's happening, FYI."

"I know, I know Lea Michele. Just try to have some fun tonight. Like back in college." He smirked. "Remember when you made out with that girl and tried to do a beer bong?"

"No." Lea answered with pursed lips, grabbing her tall back heels.

Cory laughed and grabbed his phone. "Yeah you do… Come on. Let's get outta here."


	3. Chapter 3

Cory scanned the sea of vibrant people under the flashing neon lights. No sign of his partner in crime. She was probably already on the dance floor.

"BOO!" A loud cackle of ear-splitting laughter followed the greeting and the drummer spun around in his chair, ignoring the strong buzz he was feeling as he smiled at the little woman that stood behind him. "Heeeeeeey Cory…" Lea drawled, waving a cup of dark liquid and tilting her head cutely. "Heeey Lea." He chuckled. "Did a guy buy you that? Where is he? Let me meet him so I can judge if he's a creep. Nobodies worthy!"

The perky actress waved a hand and stirred her drink. "I met a guy but he's a homophobic. I don't give those access…"

"Access?" Cory repeated, a half-smile creeping onto his face. He wasn't planning on getting too sloppy which was a good thing. Because Lea was sloppy enough for the two of them. Still he could feel the weight of his numerous drinks starting to take their toll and he tried to keep composure.

Lea opened her mouth and let out a loud burp, stumbling forward onto his lap. Cory laughed loudly and stood up, keeping his friend steady as best he could in his own state. "Nice one! Come on, let's wash you up."

"Where's your booty call!"

"She was over there. It's okay, it's not happenin' tonight. You're super drunk so I'm gonna take you home."

"Did I throw up?"

"You barfed a little when you burped, yeah. I gotcha."

The duo made their way to a cab and Cory felt the lights of the big city spinning around his head as they whizzed by through the windows. Getting up to the apartment was a blur but he did remember Lea grabbing his crotch once, as well as telling a neighbor or two that she was hornier than a flying monkey…whatever that meant.  
If he remembered this…he was not letting her live anything down tomorrow.

Sloppily wiping kleenex over her mouth and face, Cory furrowed his brow in concentration. "It's all gone…" He muttered as Lea leaned against the wall, head tilted back in exhaustion. He was trying hard to focus on getting them both to bed but the floor felt funny and Lea kept making weird groaning sounds. He was probably hallucinating because before he knew it she was feeling up his chest with a plea of "touch me".

The time lapse between "touch me" and lifting her up into his arms seemed like a whirl. He sloppily unbuckled his jeans and closed his eyes at the touch of her tiny fingers. Pulling off her dress and his shirt, Cory hoisted up the little woman around him and pressed her against the wall of the hallway for support. She cried out in relief as they came in contact, her dark hair resting against the wall in a messy, half-destroyed bun. Her big eyes closed as she moaned out his name and her arms gripped his back and shoulders. It was so wrong but so so right and everything in the world about it felt natural. Maybe it was the drinks but he didn't care. There was not way either of them could stop.

It was rough sex that moved from the wall to the bed and culminated in two naked roommates, tangled in sheets. Cory vaguely registered the tingle of kisses to his neck as he closed his eyes and finally let sleep get the best of him.


	4. Chapter 4

The sound of early morning Sunday New York traffic awoke Lea Michele from her deep and groggy slumber. Her head seemed to have a pulse as she groaned and rubbed her temples sleepily. A slight breeze caught her attention and she noticed that she was completely exposed over the messy entanglement of white bedsheets.

Long, bare, hairy legs rested against hers. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust-or maybe her brain was just a few cells short from the alcohol- but the sight of a naked Cory Monteith inches in front of her didn't send a jolt of shock through her body for a good 30 seconds. The pieces came together and the tiny woman let out a gasp of horror.

As she attempted to slip out of bed gracefully, Lea was in mid-search of a robe when Cory awoke. The Canadian furrowed a brow and stared with wide eyes at the bare backside that fluttered around the room in panic. "Why…." He was about to ask his friend why she was naked but a fuzzy version of the night's events soon hit him. "Shit…" Cory frowned, rubbing his face. "Shit…."

"Oh my god…" Lea spouted, noticing his arrival back to consciousness. She had found her robe and was clasping it around her like her life depended on it. "OH MY GAAAAAAHD!"

"I know…"

"OH MY GAAAAAAAHD!"

"Lea…"

"Please tell me this is not reality. This is so wrong…Ooooh myyyyy god."

Cory shook his head in frustration and quickly slid out of bed, clumsily pulling on his boxers. Lea merely stood still, mouth wide with speechlessness. It was a rare moment that the actress was at a loss of words. And it was usually never good.  
"We…" She whispered. "I'm so sorry if I led you on or something, I don't even know what happened…"

"Hey. It was both of us. We were both to drunk last night."

Cory couldn't meet her eyes. Those confused, gorgeous dark orbs. He wasn't really sure why he was feeling his stomach twist in knots but he knew he had to shake the feeling. This was Lea Michele for god's sake! The girl who he had convinced to smoke hookah once when she was in the 12th grade. The girl who cried to him when insensitive bitches told her to get a nose job in high school. Just Lea. Just his best friend.

The woman was moving past him and heading into the bathroom as she mumbled something about needing to take a shower. Cory exhaled a breath and plopped on the couch, hoping the mindless babble of the television would be enough to make him rid himself of the night's events and the feelings that came along with them.

* * *

"So..." Cory fiddled with his fingers, glancing over to the girl beside him painting her toenails a lipstick red. The brunette let out a small sigh and put Top Chef on pause. Ignoring the previous night's events wasn't doing anything for either of them. "Look, let's just forget about it, okay?" Lea decided in a firm but gentle voice. "We were both _incredibly_ drunk and it happens. It was weird, it happened, it's over-done. We weren't like murdered by strangers we brought home or something so let's just think of that."

"Yup." Cory nodded, giving a shrug as the little black and brown cat hoped up onto his lap for a brief moment before trotting over to Lea's. "It's not like we even remember everything clearly anyway."

"Exactly so let's just forget about it."

"Okay."

"There we go."

"Deal."

"Deal."

The two sat in awkward silence until the Canadian finally had the sense to change the television back to play. Lea resumed painting her nails and the two pushed their intimate encounter to the very back of their minds for the next two months.


	5. Chapter 5

The loud, melodic sound of a high note greeted Cory's arrival back from work. He had finished a long day of band rehearsal with the boys and received a few auditions for minor television characters: the murdered victim on CSI, the boyfriend who humps and dumps for one episode on your typical modern-day family comedy. The usual. He smirked and set down the greasy bags of food as the Broadway singer in the other room finished her own practices.

"Something smells like Chinese!" she piped, poking her head through the doorway. "Hi."

"Hey! Yeah I just felt like it tonight. It's your night off the show and you're doing warm-ups?"

"Just finished. Like to do them once a day." Lea nodded, snatching an egg roll and the box of steamed veggies. "How was rehearsal?"

"Good. Got a few auditions for some TV spots. Pretty solid." He glanced up at the brunette in time to see her zoning out at the tofu in front of her. "...It's not chicken, Lea. I remember your tofu every time."

"No, no it's not that. I'm good." The woman casually waved a hand and took a seat at the table across from her roommate.

"You sure you're okay?" That was the blessing and the curse of knowing someone for years. You knew exactly when something was wrong; they couldn't lie if they tried. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Seriously, Cor, I just haven't felt the greatest today. I'm a little under the weather. Nothing's bothering me."

"You're getting sick? Yikes. Take care of yourself, you have the show."

Lea vibrated her lips with a slight eye-roll. "Tell me about it. It's no big deal, my tummy's just been a little upset." A big, exaggerated pout accompanied the actress's complaint and Cory chuckled. "Are you sure you should be eating Chinese then?"

She pointed a finger with a grin. "Don't make me give up my egg roll. I know your tactics, mister."

"Hey! Hey, I'm just sayin! Just bein' a good-"

She was up out of her chair, darting towards the bathroom and Cory didn't have common sense to wait to put the fortune cookie in his mouth before hearing the sickening sound of spewing into the toilet. He furrowed his brow and got up to help his friend. "Lea? Hey..."

"Can you not look at me? This is gross. I must've just ate something earlier. Have my egg-rolls..." She croaked, shutting the bathroom door.

Cory exhaled a breath and shook his head. "Alrighty well let me know if you need anything. Take it easy. I'm sure it'll be all good once it's out of your system." He was sitting at the kitchen table by himself (occupying himself with Angry Birds as he inhaled his orange chicken) when the tiny Italian finally made a reappearance. "Hey, you don't look so good...feeling any better?"

"A little. I think it's all out." Lea admitted tiredly, plopping into the chair beside him. "I don't know what is up with me today, I never get sick!"

"Well food poisoning can happen to anybody. Like you said before. You want me to run and grab somethin' for ya?"

"That would be great, you're a life-savor."

"Call me Superman." Cory smiled, leaning forward to peck her forehead before grabbing his keys. "Take it easy, I'll be back in an hour."


	6. Chapter 6

Lea inhaled a sharp, gasping breath in hopes to compose her untamed tears. The entire kitchen around her seemed to spin, causing the hysteric woman to beat her palms to her temples. Sheila mewed and watched her with what could only be disgust or concern as the twenty-six year old lost it.  
Officially, certifiably, whole-heartedly lost it.

And nothing that she would ever be able to will herself to do could make it undone. A shock-ridden Cory appeared at the doorway and Lea realized she hadn't even heard him come in. Her brain registered nothing but the sickening, nauseating waves of pain and terror that cursed through every inch of her being. She physically felt like she might vomit. She was crying herself sick.

Cory starred at his friend; eyes buggy and red with a crazed look of horror, cheeks flushed and wet, bangs plastered to her face. "What happened...Lea..." He managed with concern, slowly bending down to reach for the woman who sat against the cabinets. "Hey..talk to me. Lea." Pushing the bangs out of her eyes, he gently turned her face towards him so that their eyes could meet.

"I'm pregnant!" She choked, opening her mouth with a new sob of realization. It was like every time she had to think about it, she rediscovered the plus sign on that little white stick all over again. The thought made her want to die.

The thirty year old's stomach dropped to the pit of his body and he zoned out from the ear-splitting cries of the woman beside him. Pregnant. Mind blank. Head empty. Not registering. _Pregnant._

He forced himself to wrap his arms around the crying girl but he had felt no other choice anyway. She was his source of comfort and he knew he was hers. Cory wasn't a tearful kinda guy but he shut his eyes to avoid letting the blurred dampness escape as he cradled the actress. He couldn't will himself to say that it would all be okay but he hoped he could convince them both through his comforting embrace. It would have to be okay.

* * *

It had taken an hour to get them both off the floor. Lea's tears had subsided and the two had let themselves stay in each others arms, comforted most by the silence. They were each in their own world of thought, working through the reality of their situation and how it would affect their lives. Their careers, their goals, _them. _

Lea had finally rubbed his cheek with affection and motioned for him to stand up and the two moved to the couch. Another few minutes passed before either of them said anything.

"We'll figure it out." Cory finally mumbled, gluing his gaze to the coffee table.

"Yeah." She agreed softly, allowing the curious kitty to take refuge on her lap. "I can't-I can't consider-I thought I'd be able to but-"

"I know."

"Okay."

Lea forced herself to meet the eyes of the man beside her, fear brutally present on his face. He was just as worried as she was. Not only did this impact their lives but they couldn't bare to screw up this innocent one. "A lot of people do the whole 'one parent has it on weekdays and the other has it on weekends' thing. That's a very common thing in our modern society."

Cory swallowed and nodded, murmuring in agreement.

"Life..." Lea exhaled a steady breath and shook her head. "Life is unexpected and I'm 100% lost right now but we're gonna do this. Mkay? We're gonna...make a way to work through this and do this together and maybe it'll be weird but we're gonna do it. And it's going to have the opportunity to be whatever it wants to be and try whatever it wants to try and maybe it's parents won't love each other like that but they'll still always love each other and they'll love them and-"

"They'll always be a lot of love." The Canadian mumbled, staring at his fingers. "And he or she will always know that."

As scared as Cory was about the little life inside the woman beside him, he was equally as scared for the feelings he bore that were painstakingly clearer as the days went by. Ever since that night he couldn't get them out of his brain. Maybe they had really been in there before that...  
It was the inevitable predicament of close friendships between a man and a woman.  
One was always bound to fall for the other.


	7. Chapter 7

_-4 Months Later-_

"Hey Coooooor?" The voice of the brunette woman under blankets on the couch radiated into the bedroom as Cory got ready for band rehearsal. "Yup? In here." He relayed, glancing towards the doorway. "What do ya need?"

"Can you come do something with me for a sec?"

"I'm kinda getting ready to go rehearse." Cory brushed off the pair of jeans he was sporting for the second day in a row and walked out to meet the pregnant woman. "I have a few though. What's up?"

Lea was sitting on the couch comfortably, her laptop, papers, and pita chips occupying the coffee table. "My dad and mom were suggesting we start making a budget. Ya know estimate how much we need to set aside in our salaries to pay for college and private school and any sort of extra-curricular thing the baby might want to do."

Cory raised a brow at his friend's abruptness. The baby wasn't due for another 5 months. And of course they'd set money aside. Did they really need to form an intense money plan at this very moment? They were just settling into the idea of having a baby, period. "Uhhh...Well we'll talk about the private school thing later because I think that's kind of a waste of money considering I'm still trying to find a more stable acting job so I'm not just doing little gigs here and there and then the band on the side. Second of all, can this wait a few.. I don't know, months? The baby's not even born yet let alone going to college for another couple of years."

Lea arched her brows and rummaged through a few papers. "Yeah well I think it's smart to be on top of things. We're going to have a lot on our plate when it arrives and money is the last thing we need to worry about. My parents had their budget set up for me before I was even physically conceived. They knew they wanted one child, they wanted he or she to be able to attend college and life a full life-"

"Yeah well we weren't exactly planning this, Lea. Sorry if we're a little behind in the game."

"Hence our planning now."

"Hence maybe you should relax."

"Maybe I could relax after I know we're going to have a way to do this, Cory. Hence forming a budget!"

"Hence, maybe you should stop saying 'hence'!"

"Hence why maybe you should find a real job." Lea mumbled as she rummaged through the mess of papers on the table. She had hit a nerve and she knew it. But there was no going back.

Cory was silent for a moment before shaking his head and grabbing his jacket. She wasn't giving him credit for looking. Lea Michele had been thrown into the world of acting at the tender age of eight and she would never understand what it meant to be a struggling actor. Before everything had gotten so twisted she had always encouraged him to follow his passions even if it meant the rockier road. Now it was all about logistics. All about the baby who would always be their's but would never be apart of the family Cory couldn't deny he wanted with her. This was one thing his best friend would never understand. "You know what?" The tall man shrugged. "I didn't really want to have a kid with my best friend. I'm still trying to _grasp_ that. So maybe give me some _time_-"

The actress didn't filter her words as she coldly shrugged a shoulder back, keeping eyes on the laptop in front of her. She blamed all she said on the hormones. "Fine then just get out now before you even get involved. I'd rather you leave now if you're just going to chicken out and leave later like your father did to your mom."

Cory swallowed and fought the urge to punch something as he slammed the door. Lea heard a few of the pots and pans hanging above the kitchen counter come crashing down from the angry force.

* * *

**Author's Note: I know this story isn't all sunshine and rainbows but I promise that things will get better! They only go uphill from here!  
**


End file.
